Credit was awarded for LEED Certified buildings, with further points awarded for buildings designated in three ascending LEED tiers: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Less credit was given for LEED Registered buildings, which are typically in the planning or development phase, before certification. The resulting total was then normalized on a per capita basis, using the adjusted number of LEED buildings per 100,000 people.
The #1 city based on the above approach is Atlanta. Atlanta's 45 registered and 12 certified LEED buildings topped #2 Portland, which had 54 registered and 16 certified but a larger population than Atlanta. In the #3 position is Seattle, with 43 registered and 14 certified LEED buildings. At #4, Washington, D.C. had 28 registered and 8 certified buildings, and Sacramento was #5 with 10 registered and 8 certified LEED buildings.